Concrete railway-tie.



M. A. LEWIS. CONCRETE RAILWAY TIE.

1 APPLICATION rum: mum, 1909. 1 Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

t 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Witnesses Attorneys M. A: LEWIS. CONCRETE RAILWAY TIE.

I APPLICATION FILED MAR-2, 1909. 1,004,046. Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

z SHEETS-SHEET Z.

' u unm mun",

Attorneys MELVILLE A. LEWIS,

lENT OFFICE.

OF KELLOGG, IDAHO.

CONCRETE RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

atented Sept. 26, 1911.

Application filed March 2, 1909. Serial No. 480,932.

To all whom it may concern:

tie it htiOWtl that l, l\'[ni.vu.i.1-1 A. Lewis, a citizen ot the United States, residing at Kellogg, in the county ot Slu'ishonc, State of Idaho, have invented a. new and useful Concrete tailway-tlic, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to composite railroad ties, its object being to provide tie the body of which is made up principally of a plastic material such as cmicrete and in which is housed a tubular cushioning member formed of a nonconductiing material which will not be allotted by exposure.

A 'turthei' object is to provide im 'n'oved means mounted within the tie and supported by the cushioning elcmcntyit'or attaching rails to the tie, said attaching means including devices t'or preventing displacement of the rail engz'lgiug portions.

A 't'urtl'ter object. is to provide a composite tic of this character embodying all the desirable characteristics of the ordinary wood tie.

\Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will-appear as the description 'n'ocecds, the invention I'tSltlQS in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the nection therewith.

ng shown. Fig. 2

details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that: changes in the precise embodiment. of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimedwithout departing from the spirit; of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown. I I

In said drawings z-Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section through a. portion of a tie and through the rail engaging devices combined therewith, a portion of a rail bea section on line A-QB Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the cores used in connection with the tie, a ra engaging member and an anchoring bolt-being shown in con- Fig. {is a perspective view of the rail chair and itssupporting wedges separated. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the rail supporting wedge. Fig. (l is a perspective View of the spreading wedge. Fig. 7 is a central longitudinal section on a reduced scale, through the complete tie, the rail engaging devices, the rail chair, and cooperating parts being removed.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the body of the tie, the same being formed of concrete or other plastic material and being preferably tlll' gular in outline. within this body is a cylindrical tubular. cushion preferably made up of a,roll of fibrous materiatsuch as what is known as lJlttlltllItlZOtl fiber, said cushion being extended throughout the. length of the body 1,

as indicated at 2, and being open at. its ends. Openings 3 are it"orined in the body 1 at a distance apart. equal to the distance between the rails when properly assembled on the tie and these openings register with corresponding OPOIIlIlgS t formed in the tubular. cushion 2.

Arranged within each end portion of the cushion 2 is a metallic core 5 preferably formed of an eye beam the flanges of which are curved so as to produce a substantially cytint'lrical core, said flanges being spaced apart along their longitudinal edges and the web t; of the core being cut away at a point:- between the ends thereof and as indicated 7'. A spacing lug 8 extends from the center of each end wall of the opening 7 in the web (3 and spacing shoulders t) are alsofornied upon said end walls close to the sides of the core. The notches formed between these lugs and shoulders are adapted to receive the ends of spring bars 10 extending longitudinally within the opening 7 and bearing downwardly upon the lower curved flanges ot' the core Arran ed lon 'itiulinall I t 13 to be understood that each core hts snugly within the tubular cushioning member i and each core can be securely held. against longitudinal movement, relative to the cushioning member and the bed means of an anchoring bolt 12 having a flattened head 13 capable of beinginserted between the upper flanges ot' the core and then given a one quarter turn so as to prevent its withdrawal through the tween the flanges. This bolt ;extends through openings in the cushioning element, 2 and in the body 1 and has a tightening. nut; which, when screwed on to the bolt, serves to draw frictional engagement with the upper flanges of the core, thus securely binding the core in place. The opening in the tie body and in the cushioning member, has been indicated at 14 in Fig. l.

In order to secure a rail to the tie, rail engaging devices such as indicated at 15 are space bc-v the head 13 upwardly into m5 employed, each of these devices having the general appearance of a spike, it being provided at its upper end with a engaging the base flange of a rail. The

5 lower end of the member however, has an enlargement 17 ing formed, in its upperface, with a longi tudinal groove 20 while extending. from one end of the wedge are downwardly curved outwardly diverging prongs 21 designed to straddle the adjacent rail engaging device 15 and to lie between the enlargement 17 onsaid device and the upper portions of the adjacent flanges of 'the core. The groove 20 receives a rib 22 formed longitudinally along the bottom of a rail chair 28. A longitudinally extending channel 2a is formed in the upper face of this chair and a passage25 extends downwardly through the chair from the center of this channel. Openings 26 are also formed in the end portions of the chair and the rib 22 is located entirely between these openings, said rib being bisected by the passage 25. After been properly seated bars 11. and with their the devices 15, the chair is placed on them and a spreading-pin 27 tapered, as shown in Fig. 6, is .driven downwardly through the passage and between the wedges '19 so as to shift said wedges in opposite directions. Longitudinally extending recesses 28, of different depths are formed in the side portions of the chair 23 at the top thereof and receive a supporting wedge plate 29 having side fingers 30. bear directly on this plate and the flanges of the rail are engaged by the head 16. It will be apparent that the inclined surface of the supporting wedge plate 29, by. a downward pressure of the rail thereon will force the spreading pin 27 downwardly s9 that the prongs 21 will tightly engage the fastening devices 15 thus holding them against up- .ward movement. The wedge plate 29 can then be driven transversely of the rail so as to take up any play between the parts and the fingers 30 may then be bent downwardly over one side of the chair so as to prevent the wedge from pulling out of position. I WVith the parts thus assembled it will be apparent that when the rail is subjected to a .considerable weight, as when a car is passing there-over, this weight, instead of being transmitted directly to the plastic material on and between the constituting the'body of the tie, will be rehead 16 for p in the flanges adjacentthe wedges 19 have 5 rongs 21 embracingporting bars The rail 31 is adapted to ceived by the tubular cushioning member 2 in which. the core 5 is located. 'The arring and the vibrations produced by the movement of the cars over the tie will not, therefore, result in injury to the said he and practically the same cushioning effect will be obtained as where an ordinary wooden tie is employed. It will be obvious that the rail engaging devices cannot pull out of the tie and, therefore, the rails will be constantly held in place.

As heretofore stated he cushioning element 2 is preferably formed of bituminized fiber this material being capable of withstanding exposure to air and moisture and also constituting means for insulating the rails from each other. Said material also constitutes an efficient: cushion and it has been found that, by utilizing a tube of this materialand housing the weight receiving core therein, the cushioning effect is greatly improved as compared with the ordinary flat cushions commonly employed. Not only does the said element 2 cushion the rails but the cushioning action is obtained by the yielding of the bars 11 between which the wedges extend.

It will be seen that by constructing and arranging the parts as shown, the spreading pin or member 27 will move downwardly by gravity automatically as the parts become worn. Undesirable looseness of the parts is thus prevented.

Obviously, after the tie has been subjected to long continued use, the resilient sup- 10 will become'wornand cause the rails to gradually settle on to, the tie body. These bars can ultimately be reversed or new ones substituted therefor.

While the structure has been described as including a plastic body substantially angular in outline it is to be understood that, if preferred, a continuous plastic bed may beemployed and the cushioning elements and cores may be arranged therein at desired intervals.

What is claimed is 1. A railroad t1e including a body, a

tubular. cushioning member housed therein, I

and means, for distributing the weight of a rail and its load upon the inner surface of said cushioning member.

2. A railroad tie including a body, a tubular cushioning member housed therein, a non-yielding core supported within said cushioning member, and means engaging the core for supporting and fastening a rail.

3. A railway tie including a body, a tubular cushioning element of non-conducting material housed within the body, and means for distributing the weight of a rail and its load upon the inner surface of said element. I

4. A railroad tie including a body, a tubular cushioning member extending longitudinally therein, a core of non-y elding material housed Within said member, elastic devices supported by the core, a rail supporting element, and means for exerting a spreading action upon said elastic devices when said element 1s subjected to a load.

5. A railroad tie including a body, a tubular cushioning member embedded. therein, a non-yielding core housed within and bearing against said cushioning member, a rail chair, spaced elastic elements supported -in the core, and means interposed between said chair and elements for exerting a spreading action upon ,theelements when the chair is subjected to a load.

6. A railroad tie including a body, a tubular cushioning member embedded therein, a core housed withimthe cushioning member, elastic elemei'itsmounted within the core, a rail chair, rail engaging devices extending into the core and through said chair, and means shiftable by the application of a load to the chair, for spreading the elastic ele ments and gripping the rail engaging devices to hold said devices against removal from the core.

7. Arailroad tie including a tubular cushioning member, a plastic body molded therearound, a core housed within the cushioning member, rail fastening devices movably mounted within the core, oppositely disposed elements for engaging said devices to hold them against movement relative to the core, and means shiftable by a rail subjected to a load, for moving said elements relative to the rail engaging devices to take up play between said devices and the rail.

8. The combination with a railroad tie and a core mounted therein, of spaced elastic devices supported in the core, rail engaging devices, a rail chair, means interposed between the chair and elastic devices for spreading said devices when the chair is subjected to a load, and means shiitable by a rail, subjected to a load for shifting said means relative to the rail engaging devices.

9. The combination with a tie and a core housed therein, of elastic devices supported within the core, wedges extending between said devices, rail engaging elements extending into and retained by the core, means upon the wedges for embracing said elements and shifting them in a downward direction, a spreading element projecting between the wedges, andmeans for transmitting a load to said spreading element from a rail engaged by said devices.

10. A railroad tie including a tubular noncondncting cushioning element, a plastic body molded therearound, and means for distrilmting the weight of a rail and its load to the inner surface of said cushioning element.

11. A railroad tie including a body, a tubular core of bituminized liber within the body, and means for (.listributing the weight of a rail and its load to the inner surface ol'" the core.

Dated and signed at Kellogg,

' Idaho, Feb. 24th, 1900.

MELVJIJLE A. LEWIS. Witnesses:

M. A. CAVANAGII, \VJ LIAM 'lun'ron. 

